CLC5208 Adaptations, Theatre and Culture

CLC5208 Adaptations, Theatre and Culture Course outline for 2012 Spring Semester Lecturer: Class Period: Number of Period: Classroom: Dr. Ho Ying Fung Every Saturday (2:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.) 13 To be confirmed All classes would be composed of lecture (50%) and exploration workshop (50%). Students are expected to be active learners both in lectures and class works. A series of theatre workshop based on related topics would be held to help students re-examine the role of culture and adaptations involved in the creative process of theatre making. Integrating/conflicting viewpoints among artists, spectators, scholars, culture critics and philosophers would be examined. Selected studies from writers/poets, directors, actors, designers (set, lighting, costume, masks, props, and sound) and composers would be re-evaluated to get a closer look into the potentially diversified interpretations of text, images and artists paradox in creating specific theatrical languages. Students would be expected to participate in all class exercises involved and reflect from the findings and experiences unfolded. Developing critical reflections through analytical observations would be stressed in understanding the unusual fabrics entangled among adaptations, theatre and culture. Assessment: Class participation and attendance 20% Work presentations (including reflection blog, class work, etc.) 30% 3 Critical Essays/ or relevant creative projects* (based on selected topics or specific performance reviews) 50% Total 100% Regarding assignments: Deadline of first assignment: February 18, 2012 Deadline of second assignment: March 17, 2012 Deadline of third assignment: April 26, 2012

Lessons Breakdown: (Note: All students are expected to to read the related materials as listed or sent forth before coming to class.) 1. Beyond Storytelling 1: From Shakespeare Behind Bars to the cultural phenomena of theatre making and theatre-in-education in Hong Kong (Jan. 14, 2012) Through the work of a volunteer director on Shakespeare s THE TEMPEST with inmates in prison to examine the possible social and cultural significances behind theatre making; An in-depth look into the culture of local theatre making and theatre-in-education the past 20 years in Hong Kong and those happening in Taiwan and the Mainland. Selected Reference: http://www.shakespearebehindbars.com/ 2. What do I want to see? Vs What do I really see? (Jan. 21, 2012) An investigation on how consumer culture severely alter the course of theatre production; How do generalized morality play tricks on viewpoints? Why and how do we tell (or listen to) stories under the influence of Mass Media? Selected reference: On and On Theatre s production of Heiner Muller s Hamlet Machine 3. Beyond Storytelling 2: Examining the differences between role-plays in everyday life and those depicted in theatre. (Feb. 11, 2012) A surgical look into everyday life in postmodern world and the way to tell a story of an ordinary man; Luigi Pirandello s existential examination on being in Six Characters in Search of an Author ; Compare the story and characters depicted from a traditional well-made play and Georg Buchner s Woyzeck, the pioneer work of post-modern drama. Selected References: Georg Buchner s Woyzeck and Luigi Pirandello s Six Characters in Search of an Author

4. In search of the myth of TECHNIQUES and ARTISTIC JUDGMENT evolved in theatre creativity and the role of theatre in culture development. (Feb. 18, 2012) Examine the myth behind the arts and crafts of theatre making; How do learnt techniques influence the vision of spectators? How does the perception of art-making change in digital era? Re-examine the nature of vocational theatre training in Hong Kong and its aftereffect on theatre-making when techniques and artistic judgment are gearing towards productivity rather than cultural investigation. The missing link of Theatre of the Oppressed both in Hong Kong and the Mainland. Selected Reference: Augusto Boal s Theatre of the Oppressed, 陝西省歌舞劇院的大型樂舞詩劇 大唐賦 and Theatre Fanatico s Heading West 2: The Trial of Zanzhuang 5. Examine the building of a character in a play and the paradox behind (Feb. 25, 2012) Compare the life of character depicted in a play and the life of everyday living; Explore the foundation of the make up of body-mind and its transformative nature both in life and in storytelling; How to differentiate voices from noises in the process of character building under the influence of infotainment? What does it mean by truthfulness in playing and the art of observation in daily living? Selected Studies: 陸豐人民抗爭事件 and Henrik Ibsen s The Enemy of the People 6. A look into the world of post-modern theatre and its cultural references (March 3, 2012) An examination of post-modernist theatre vs. traditional form of story telling; The missing language for spectators of consumer culture; The market-driven theatre arts festivals and its impact on alienation; Examine why experimental theatre in Hong Kong is always struggling to survive and the missing cultural fibre in an economic driven landscape. Selected Studies: The works of Robert Wilson, Robert Lepage and Pina Bausch 7. In Search of theatre spectacle: For consumption or for art?

(March 10, 2012) Scanning through Guy Debord s The Society of the Spectacle and examine the social and cultural phenomena behind contemporary Hong Kong theatre; Examine the art and production philosophy of Cirque du Soleil; Investigate the trail of Along the River During the Qingming Festival ( 清明上河圖 )and its related theatrical extravaganza: from Hong Kong Dance Company s production to the Shanghai Expo Animated Exhibition. 8. Total theatre: Is it an ancient idea or a modern one? (March 17, 2011) In search of the aesthetics behind Noh, Balinese Dance and Chinese Opera. How modern concept and theories devised from ancient theatre rituals and practices? Selected References: Bertolt Brecht s The Messingkauf Dialogues and Tadashi Suzuki s The Way of Acting. 9. The landscape of a performer s body: the cultural sign beyond gesture and movements. (March 24, 2012) Comparing the Western and Eastern perception of body form; From Eugenio Barba to Bruce Li; From F.M. Alexander to Tai Chi Selected Reference: Cloud Gates Dance Theatre s Cursive II 10. Re-examine how culture of the Past and the Present influences the process of theatre adaptations. (March 31, 2012) Examine the lost art of reading (from artist to spectator); How does adaptation work from existing texts/materials? Is interpretation necessary and inescapable? How does historicity work on the state of being (be you the creator or the spectator)? Selected Reference: Greg Dening s Presenting the Past: History s Theatre and Susan Sontag s Against Interpretation 11. From Text to Images VS. From Images to Text (April 7, 2012) A comparison on non-text based theatre and traditional text-based theatrical

works; A brief investigation of the role and essence of image making in contemporary digital world and its effect on theatre making and spectator s alternative vision; Wordplay vs. Invasion of Signs (be they Audio, Visual, Virtual or Hyperreal ). Selected reference: Samuel Beckett s PLAY and Elfrieda Jelinek s SLEEPING BEAUTY 12. Re-examine the roles and values of the creative mind evolved on part of the spectators. (April 14, 2012) The impact of hyperreality on contemporary culture and the challenge to come for theatre making; The war (or a WAR never taken place) on consumerism and the alternatives in live performances; The cultural phenomena behind the NUMBER game: full house vs. marketing censorship! 13. Community theatre: A missing piece in Hong Kong culture (April 21, 2012) From WKCD to the role of the Government played in local theatre development: the missing pieces! The significant ritual of street theatre in the protests engineered by the post-80 s group and the importance of theatrical events on social awareness; Why is there a lack of community commitment among theatre artists in Hong Kong and the Mainland alike? The dilemma of treating theatre as a profession and the paradox behind theatre making. Selected References: Selections from World Culture Festival Talk Series hosted by Ho Bit Goon in 2011. Required Readings: Papers, books or video clips as listed above. All materials would be made available

through the lecturer s dropbox either in the form of e-links, e-books or e-papers. Please check out the books below through library. Brecht, Bertolt. (1965) The Messingdauf Dialogues. London: Eyre Methuen. Lefebvre, Henri. (1984) Everyday life in the Modern World. [1968]. Tr. Sacha Rabinovitch. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. Pirandello, Luigi. (1998) Six Characters in Search of an Author. Tr. Eric Bentley. Signet Classic. Stanislavski, Constantin. (1936) An Actor Prepares. London: Methuen, 1988 Suzuki, Tadashi. (1986) The Way of Acting: The Theatre Writings of Tadashi Suzuki. New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc. Suggested Reference Readings: Adorno, Theodor. (1991) The Culture Industry. London and New York: Routledge. Bakhtin, M.M. (1993) Toward a Philosophy of the Act. Ed., Michael Holquist, tr. Vadim Liapunov, University of Texas Press Slavic, No.10. Ball, Philip (2004) Critical Mass: How one thing leads to another. Arrow Books. Barthes, Roland. (1977) Image-Music-Text. New York: Hill and Wang. Barthes, Roland (1987) Criticism and Truth. Continuum. Barthes, Roland. (1975). The Pleasure of the Text. New York: Hill and Wang. Baudrillard, Jean. (2001) Fragments. Routledge. Berger, John (1972) Ways of Seeing. Vintage. Berger, John (1980) About Looking. Vintage International. Berger, John (1985) The Sense of Sight. Vintage International. Bernstein, David W. and Hatch, Christopher (ed.). (2001) Writings through John Cage s Music, Poetry, and Art. The University of Chicago Press. Blackburn, Simon. (2005) Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed. Penguin Books. Boal, Augusto (1985) Theatre of the Oppressed. TCG

Boden, Margaret A. (1990) The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms. London and New York: Routledge. Bohm, David. (1996) On Creativity. London and New York: Routledge. Bohm, David. (1996) On Dialogue. London and New York: Routledge. Bottom, Alain de. (2005 [2004]) Status Anxiety. Penguin. Brook, Peter. (1968) The Empty Space. Atheneum. Brook, Peter. (1988) The Shifting Point: Forty Years of Theatrical Exploration 1946-1987 Methuen. Burkman, K. H. (Ed.) (1987) Myth and Ritual in the Plays of Samuel Beckett. London and Toronto: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. Burkitt, Ian. (1999) Bodies of Thought: Embodiment, Identity and Modernity. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Publications. Chandler, Daniel. (2002) Semiotics: The Basics. Routledge. Chatman, Seymour. (1978) Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP. Chekhov, Anton. (1975) *The Sea Gull. Avon Clifford, James. (1988) The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Cole, Susan Leizler. (1992) Directors in Rehearsal: A Hidden World. London: Routledge. De Certeau, Michel (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life. University of California Press. Dening, Greg. (1996) Performances. The University of Chicago Press. Denzin, Norman K. (1991) Images of Postmodern Society. London: Sage. Dewey, John. (1934) Art as Experience. A Perigee Book. Elkins, James. (1996) The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing. New York: Simon & Schuster. Fischer, Ernest. (1959) The Necessity of Art. Penguin Books. Foucault, Michel. (1994) Aesthetics. Penguin Books.

Geertz, Clifford. (1983) Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Gennep, Arnold van. (1960) The Rites of Passage. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Goffman, Erving. (1986 [1974]) Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Boston: Northwestern University Press. Gorchakov, Nikolai M. (1985) Stanislavsky Directs. New York: Limelight Editions. Handke, Peter (1991) The Afternoon of a Writer. Minerva. Heidegger, Martin. (1971) Poetry, Language, Thought. Perennial Classics. Howard, Philip K. (1994) The Death of Common Sense. New York: Warner Books. Ibsen, Henrik. (1881) Ghosts. Tr. William Archer. The Project Gutenberg Ebook. Jacobs, Carol and Sussman, Henry (ed.) (2003) Acts of Narrative. Stanford University Press. Julius, Anthony (2002) Transgressions: The Offences of Art. Thames and Hudson. Keenan, Julian Paul. (2003) The Face in the Mirror. HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Kelly, George. A. (1955) The psychology of Personal Constructs (vols. 1 and 2). N.Y.: Norton Kierkegaard, Søren. (2003/1985) Fear and Trembling: Dialectical Lyric by Johannes de silentio. Tr. Alastair Hannay. Penguin Books. Klein, Naomi. (2005) No Logo. [First published in 2000] Harper Perrenial. Kundera, Milan.( 1995) Testaments Betrayed. Faber and Faber. Laing, R.D. (1977) The Facts of Life. Penguin Group. Lefebvre, Henri. (2000) Everyday Life in the Modern World. London and New York: Continuum. Lo, Kwai-cheung (2005) Chinese Face/Off: The Transnational Popular Culture of Hong Kong. University of Illinois Press. Mamet, David. (1978) Sexual Perversity in Chicago and The Duck Variations: Two Plays. Grove Press. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. (1964) Sense and Non-Sense. Northwestern University Press.

. (1964) Signs. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.. (1964) The Visible and the Invisible. Northwestern University Press. Muller, Heiner (1995) Theatremachine. London: Faber and Faber. Pinter, Harold. (1978) Betrayal. Grove Atlantics. Polanyi, Michael. (1964) Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-critical Philosophy. (First published by Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1958.) Chicago University Press: Torch Books. Popper, Karl. (1957) The Poverty of Historicism. New York and London: Routledge. Read, Herbert. (1963) To Hell with Culture. New York and London: Routledge. Russ, Sandra Walker. (1993) Affect and Creativity: The Role of Affect and Play in the Creative Process. Hillsdale, New Jersey & Hove and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. Sacks, Oliver (1989) Seeing Voices. Great Britain: Richard Clay Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk. Sartre, Jean-Paul. (2004) The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination. Tr. Jonathan Webber. London and New York: Routledge. (First published in French in 1940 as L imaginaire by Editions Gallimard.) Schumacher, Claude. (1985) Alfred Jarry and Guillaume Apollinaire. New York: Grove Press Inc. Searle, J. (1969) Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language, Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press. Shawn, Wallace & Gregory, Andre (1981) My Dinner with Andre. Grove Weidenfeld. Sontag, Susan. (1961) Against Interpretation. Vintage. Wertheim, Margaret (1997) The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace. W.W.Norton. Zizek, Slavoj. (1997) The Plague of Fantasies. Verso. 高行健, 沒有主義 天地圖書 1996 陳清橋編, 文化想像與意識形態 : 當代香港文化政治論評 牛津大學出版社 199 7 陳冠中, 我這一代香港人 牛津大學出版社 2005 陳冠中, 移動的邊界 : 有關三個城市及一些閱讀 英屬蓋曼群島商網路與書股份有限公司台灣分公司 2005

盧偉力, 香港舞台 : 作為文化論述的香港戲劇 國際演藝評論家協會 ( 香港分會 )2 004 陳國慧 小西編, 合成美學 : 鄧樹榮的劇劇世界 國際演藝評論家協會 ( 香港分會 ) 2004 何應豐, 戲言 : 音樂劇七重天創作的思前想後 此間 : 舞台劇蕪湖街上好風光創作旅途上的無煙記錄 國際演藝評論家協會 ( 香港分會 )2004/2005 梵谷, 瘋祭圖譜 : 何應豐的完全劇場觀 ( 修訂本 ) 國際演藝評論家協會 ( 香港分會 ) 2006 張佩瑤編, 黎翠珍翻譯劇本系列 ( 粵語演出本 ) 國際演藝評論家協會 ( 香港分會 ) 2006 黎鍵, 藝檻內外 - 黎鍵藝談選 越界文化機構 1998 黎鍵, 香港粵劇時蹤 香港 : 市政局公共圖書館, 1998 黎鍵, 香港粵劇口述史 三聯書店 1993 黎鍵, 粵劇與漢劇關係初探 張秉權 方梓勳編 香港戲劇學刊 : 香港戲劇美學探研 香港中文大學香港戲劇工程 鍾喬 身體的鄉愁 辰星出版 1999